


Fear

by CharlieRoz



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2013-06-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 10:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieRoz/pseuds/CharlieRoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Mako both have their own fears to face, both going about them differently, eventually bringing them together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fear

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever Makorra story. Enjoy and please review :)

Korra sat meditating in the front of her temporary home, trying her hardest to ease the stress out of her mind. It seemed nearly impossible. Amon's solid mask and deep, intimidating voice was replaying over and over in her head. She closed her eyelids even tighter, ignoring the sweat that dripped down the side of her face.  _Breathe, just breathe,_  she reminded herself constantly, parting her lips and inhaling large amounts of cool oxygen into her lungs. For a moment she was at peace, staring into complete darkness, feeling her body go weightless and relaxed. Her head wasn't pounding anymore and her heart was no longer beating in her ears. They were both rather calm and forgetful. Her head tilted back the slightest bit, allowing the sun's warming rays to tickle her cheeks with warmth, allowing the very edges of her walls to begin to break down. Then footsteps. Fast, light footsteps. Sneaky ones. Stealthy ones. She tried to ignore them but they kept coming. They were getting closer. They were  _so close_. She could hear when one would step down and lift off the ground. And they were coming for her. They were  _coming for her_.  
  
Her eyes snapped open and her arms were already in a position of defense and attack and she gasped for air, whipping her head around so fast she strained her neck.  
"Hey, take it easy, it's just me," Mako said strangely, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. Korra sighed in great relief, rubbing her neck.  
"Hey, Mako," she replied, slowly pushing herself off the ground to face him. He still looked at her in a curious way, folding his arms. She began to felt studied and her inner walls shot back up and repaired themselves stronger than they were before. "What, is something wrong?" she quickly asked, keeping her hand at the back of her neck as she puts on her most indifferent expression. On the inside her pulse was rapid and her stomach was churning, and she could never let that show.  
"No, just you," he commented in a teasing manner, making her scoff, but he continued before she could say anything about it. "Bolin and I are going to train. You should come." Korra's shoulders loosened up and she rolled them along with her neck, sighing deeply.  
"I can't. I have to get ready for tonight," she explained, folding her arms against her chest. The lean boy raised his sharp eyebrows again.  
"What's tonight?" he questioned, giving a bit more attention to what she had to say.  
  
Korra's hands began clamming up, sticking her fingers together. She pinched the fabric of her arm warmers, building up the nerve to talk.  
"Tonight I'm going to face Amon," she stated boldly, attempting to sound confident to her own ears so that it would transfer to real feelings. Mako's lips parted slightly and he tilted his chin up, letting out a noise of understanding. Korra's face hardened at the almost pitiful expression.  
"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Mako asked looking off in the distance behind her at Naga's sleeping figure.  
"Who are you, Tenzin?" she snapped, thrusting a finger to his chest. He blinked down at her as she continued with, "You better believe I'm ready." He threw up his hands defensively, taking a half step backwards away from her.  
"Alright, alright," he muttered, "I was just asking, no need to get all worked up." Korra took her finger away and clenched her fists at her side, unintentionally sparking the air around them. Sometimes that boy just got her so fired up. "Well, we'll be at the arena until sundown, if you decide to change your mind." For a moment he looked away from her, a bit out of character, and Korra was quite inquisitive as to why. But just as she was getting to the key point in studying his face he walked around her and down the stairs, not saying anything else or even giving a glance back, which irked the Avatar with a ping of dissatisfaction. She unconsciously watched him stroll with his confident gait and laid back attitude. Her body leaned forward, wanting desperately to walk with him and get padded up at the training area to throw around some earth disks with Bolin and practice maneuvering with Mako. Her pride and stubbornness had her feet stuck to the ground, however, leaving her there with her unruly thoughts.  
  
At dinner that night she barely at anything, she drank quite a bit, though, and she excused herself before anyone else was done to go over a few stances and techniques and defensive and offensive movements. She had to keep reminding herself as to exactly why she was putting herself through this kind of mental torture. Tarrlok and a lot of other people who were keen on taking Amon down were ecstatic at her decision to face the masked evil man head on, getting prepared to remove danger out of innocent citizens and benders' lives. This was a task that thousands of people would benefit from. That's why Korra had agreed to join Tarrlok's task force to take him down. She nodded to herself at the thought, stopping her practice to stretch her arms and look up at the sky. It was nearly time. A cold, merciless shiver shot down her spine at the thought of it, but she forced it aside, pursing her lips and adjusting her arm warmers. She was as ready as she'd ever be.  
  
On Avatar Aang's memorial island in Yue Bay, she stared up at his massive statue in awe. A familiar and empowering essence pumped through her heart and for a few moments she was trapped in the swirls of her mind and alive spirit as they both seemed to free themselves from her body to absorb the great knowledge and significance the monument had to offer, and then she was snapped out of it just as quickly as it had come. Her heart was beating strongly, powerfully now, more determined and less scared of what lied ahead of the approaching outcome. She set herself squared up with Aang's gigantic chest and faced the water, calling out for Amon to show himself and take her on. She set herself in a stance, vigilantly listening and looking around every so often to keep a keen sense of her surroundings, and forced herself into stealth mode. For now there was nothing but her and the anticipation of a fight. A fight she was going to win.  
  
On the other side of town, the two bending brothers sat around their attic of a home, minding their own business. Bolin was playing with Pabu, trying to teach him new tricks and fattening him up on treats that were leftover from his own snacks while Mako leaned on a windowsill, glancing out into the night at the air temple at which Korra was currently resided in at Republic City. He thought about her, about what she was doing, and about the fact that she was going to antagonize what happened to Bolin to happen to her. To do that purposefully was quite stupid in his mind, but in a way he did pride her on her courageousness and selflessness. He still couldn't get the worry out of his system, though, and his eyes were fixated on the beautiful, almost golden, glow of the temple.  
"Hey, what time is it?" Bolin asked out of the blue from across the room. Mako snapped out of his trance and told him. "Isn't Korra at the island facing Amon, now?" he said, ruffling up Pabu's fur to make him fluffy, the little fire ferret making squeaking noises. Mako swallowed the lump in his throat.  
"Yeah," he answered shortly. Unfortunately his brother couldn't tell that he didn't want to talk about the subject so he went on talking.  
"You know what? That girl may be crazy, but she's pretty awesome," he admired, smiling to himself, "She's so brave. I know I could never do that, I'd be too scared to." He didn't notice the look that Mako had given him that was supposed to signal him to cut it out and zip up his lips. "I know that when Amon had captured me, I was terrified to no end. I was shaking so bad I couldn't even think about earthbending to get away. And his mask up close is so much different than from far away. It almost looks like there's blood smeared on it. But the worst part about it was that you could see his eyes." He whistled, shaking his head. "Bro, that was scary. Even though I knew he could only take my bending away—which is petrifying enough as it is—I felt like I was looking death in the eyes. I wonder how Korra—"  
  
Mako gets up suddenly and grabbed his grey jacket from the back of a chair and threw it on hastily, heading for the door.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, Mako," Bolin called, standing up and setting Pabu back down on the floor, "What are you doing?" Mako stops in his tracks, not looking at his younger brother as he said;  
"I have a bad feeling about this, Bo." The earthbender appeared confused.  
"A bad feeling about wha—"  
"About Korra, okay?" he nearly snapped, apologizing quickly afterwards. Bolin approached him, grabbing onto his shoulder.  
"Then let me come with you." Not about to argue about this, Mako agreed but started to plan how to not let his sibling into this mess once they got to the island. Mako and Bolin take their scooters and speed off, not taking one look back over their shoulder. Once they reached the edge of the pier where they expected to, but didn't, find Tenzin nor Tarrlok at. It seemed awfully strange. Mako parked the vehicle and hopped off, leaving his helmet there and walked to the edge of the dock with Bolin calling after him.  
  
As Mako looked around and checked out the area, Bolin glanced about as well, saying, "Maybe he was a no-show—they could've already left," to try and reassure his brother as well as himself. They weren't just going to leave without Korra, right? They were going to make sure that everything was fine before heading back to their homes.  
"I don't think so," Mako responded doubtfully, rubbing the back of his neck. A little more snooping and he came across Korra's colorful blue armband. With a closer examination he noticed it was probably ripped off by force. His heart skipped a beat. At the same time Bolin told him;  
"I think I see Tenzin a few other people coming back here." Mako's head shot up from the fabric in his hand to the building on the island. Without warning, he started to strip off his jacket and belt, leaving them in a heap on the ground. It took long enough that Mako was already on the edge of the dock before Bolin realized what he was doing. "Hey wait a minute!" he shouted as Tenzin came clearer into view, sprinting towards them in a frantic, desperate way. And Mako was in the water.  
  
He gasped sharply at the freezing water stabbing at his skin and constantly biting his lungs as it flooded into his mouth accidently. He ignored the pain and swam forward with all his strength, kicking the water hard and stroking as efficiently as he could. He couldn't hear the pleads of his brother or the cries of the master Airbender as he came closer and closer and Mako swam further and further. His fingers were turning numb and his feet felt like solid metal with all his clothes on, although it was nothing compared to the clench in his chest as his heart froze over. He reached the shore in what seemed like hours of nonstop, stiff treading in pudding, and he pulled himself up onto land with the rest of the muscle power in his arms. Absentmindedly he wondered why someone else wasn't there following behind him, but he didn't have time to think about that, he told himself. It was forward that was in his brain and not the past. He climbed up the side of the ledge and hulled himself to the flat stone that lined the temple underneath Aang's statue. He barely had time to catch his breath and wring out his shirt before chi-blockers popped up out of nowhere and were pouncing on him. He got jabbed in the left arm first then fire blasted the same guy up into the air and down on his back, never getting up again. There were two left, two that were prepared this time. His left arm swung around limply and uselessly as he glided across the ground gracelessly and kicked behind him a ball of flame, hopefully connecting with one of the men. It did, just not enough.  
  
He wasn't really trying to run away from them as they advanced, and he was still blasting them as forcefully and accurately as he could as he sprung ahead and threw his good arm back and summoned the air around him to heat and explode in a dance of red and yellow and orange streams, but his main priority was Korra, and he sensed he didn't have much time, so he continued ahead with nothing more than a premonition and instinct to guide him and help him through the unknown building. Luckily, one of his moves collided head on with one chi-blocker and the other disappeared so he was now alone sprinting through the halls. The pulse in his ears was distracting and he hated the way he sweated because it only made the coldness of his skin intensify and the disturbing chills multiply. His teeth clamped together and grinded to help him divert himself from the pain and the horrifying possibilities that were brewing up unmercifully in his head. Every time he would stomp on the hard ground, his nerves would bite him all the way up his legs and into his spine. Then they started to burn and his lungs were about to give up on him. He didn't want to slow down, but he did just so he could catch enough oxygen, which the air seemed to be missing an awful lot of, and then he caught the strangling feeling of how tight his throat had become. He reached up to his neck and tried to soothe it by rubbing it. It didn't seem to help, and he only coughed and wheezed.  
  
He stumbled down a corner, really taking the toll of using all his energy. Then he heard a muffled scream and the adrenaline punched back through him and he galloped towards the source, heart racing his feet. It wasn't hard for him to know whose hoarse voice slaughtered out those yelps and pleas, but it was definitely hard for him to hear. There was still the relief that she was alive, though, and he was as ready as ever to save her. The crack of a palm against a face and the moan and grunt of a punch to the stomach were the last things Mako's ears had to suffer through until he came across the corridor leading to the room where he saw Amon's back and Korra's bleeding, bruised, and tear-streaked face held in the monster's greedy hand. Mako meant to yell at the beast, telling him to get away and a bunch of other things he couldn't think of, but his voice was lost and he was frozen in fear for a split second—a long enough time for Amon to turn around and glare through his mask at the teenager.  
"Ah, so the Avatar does have a savior," he chuckled darkly, gripping Korra's jaw harder, causing her to whimper and close her eyes. She was so scared she was paralyzed. All she could think about was that his hand was so close to her forehead, and he could so easily strip her of her of her bending and take away every little thing she had left.  
  
Seeing Korra sob like that allowed Mako to find his willpower again and he began to charge at the control crazed fiend. Before he could even complete five steps, Amon's arm was raised and he was restrained by chi-blockers and hit square in the back and was thrown down to the ground without the use of his limbs, groaning in pain and shame.  
"How cute, you really think you could do anything," Amon pitied him, shoving Korra down to the ground beside the firebender. He lifted his foot and pressed it into Korra's cheek, forcing the ground to pierce her skin. "Not this time, Avatar," he warned sharply, "But soon." He peered down at Mako and smirked undetectably. "And don't think that  _he'll_ "—he pointedly kicked him in the shoulder, rolling him onto his sore back to bend over and stare him in the eyes—"be able to get to you in time." He cackled to himself and made another hand movement that wasn't seen by the two on the stone, and he and his accomplices were disappearing into the shadows. Mako got up as fast as he could, ignoring the agonizing pain in his head and back whenever he twisted his body. He pulled himself over to Korra who was shaking severely and making horrible noises of terror. He urged himself to sit up just enough to pull her into his arms and hold onto her tightly, damming up tears in his stinging eyes as best as he could. She weakly fisted into his jacket and cried with relief and pain, simply just trying to breathe and hold onto the one piece of life that she knew she could trust at the moment.  
  
Mako shut his eyes and strained his shoulders embracing Korra so hard to attempt to make up for the time he wasn't there to rescue her, the time she had to be alone in fear with that demon of a man. He rocked her back and forth ever so slightly, for that was all his body would allow him. He whispered nothings and shushed her, pushing his face into her dark brown hair that had been so carelessly ripped out of their hair bands. He was so sad, in such emotional pain that he forgot about his physical injuries. How could anyone do  _this_  to such an amazing, beautiful, lovely creature?  Despite his efforts, the tears started streaming down his cheeks and he held her tighter, if that was even possible. His heart ached and was broken and beat separately in tiny little fragments. He pressed his lips into her hair and held them there. She began calming down a fraction at a time, and his hands, with a purpose of their own, removed his scarf, damp and a little cold, wiped off her dirty and slightly bloody face and then wrapped it around her for comfort. Three little words, one, four, and three letters, escaped him in a near soundless murmur, but they were enough to convince him and the perfect girl he held so closely. They were as true and raw as the open wounds that currently littered their arms, and just about as prominent.


End file.
